Arturo Barea
Encyclopedia
Arturo Barea Ogazón was a Spanish broadcaster and writer.
district of Madrid
. Barea was semi-adopted by his aunt and uncle who were prosperous enough to send him to school. This resulted in his first experience of the class divisions that riddled Spanish society, when his own sister accused him of "acting the gentleman" while she worked as a servant. He left school aged 13 and got a job at a bank as an office boy and copyist, though did not become a fully paid employee for another year. He later quit after being fined for breaking a glass-plate desk cover.
Barea did his military service in Ceuta
and Morocco
, rising to the rank of sergeant
in the Engineers of the Spanish Army and fighting in the Rif War
. He began writing and published some poems. He then worked in an office registering patents (he had originally wanted to be an engineer), and in 1924, he married. He was a member of the Socialist UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores
) and helped found the Clerical Workers Union at the start of the Second Spanish Republic
in 1931.
On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
in mid-1936 he organized a volunteer militia
unit La Pluma (The Pen) of office workers fighting under the UGT. Later, thanks to his knowledge of English and French, he worked as a censor
at the Foreign Ministry's Press Office where he came to know Ernest Hemingway
and many other foreign journalists covering the conflict. During the siege of Madrid
he joined the Radio Service broadcasting to Latin America, where he became known as An Unknown Voice of Madrid, every night telling stories about daily life in the besieged city. He also met the Austrian journalist Ilse Kulcsar. They were married in 1938.
As defeat for the Spanish Government loomed, this, allied to difficulties with the Communist party
(he was not a member and therefore suspect), and a breakdown in his health, meant that he and his wife had to leave Spain. They went to exile to France in the middle of 1938, and then to England in 1939. From then until his death, Barea worked for the BBC
's World Service
Spanish section, while contributing articles and reviews to various literary publications, as well as writing books.
He is buried, with his wife, in Faringdon, Oxfordshire.
The books were translated into English by Ilsa Barea and first published between 1941 and 1946. The first Spanish language edition was published in Argentina
in 1951. It was not published in Spain until 1978. La Forja de un Rebelde was dramatised on TVE
in 1990, directed and with screenplay by Mario Camus.
Biography
Of humble origins, his father died when he was four months old. His mother, with four young children to support, worked as a laundress, washing clothes in the River Manzanares, while the family lived in a garret in the poor LavapiésLavapiés
Lavapiés is a central neighbourhood of the city of Madrid, centered on Plaza de Lavapiés.It was the Jewish quarter of the city until the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492, the church of San Lorenzo being built on the former site of the synagogue...
district of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. Barea was semi-adopted by his aunt and uncle who were prosperous enough to send him to school. This resulted in his first experience of the class divisions that riddled Spanish society, when his own sister accused him of "acting the gentleman" while she worked as a servant. He left school aged 13 and got a job at a bank as an office boy and copyist, though did not become a fully paid employee for another year. He later quit after being fined for breaking a glass-plate desk cover.
Barea did his military service in Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, rising to the rank of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
in the Engineers of the Spanish Army and fighting in the Rif War
Rif War
The Rif War, also called the Second Moroccan War, was fought between Spain and the Moroccan Rif Berbers.-Rifian forces:...
. He began writing and published some poems. He then worked in an office registering patents (he had originally wanted to be an engineer), and in 1924, he married. He was a member of the Socialist UGT (Unión General de Trabajadores
Unión General de Trabajadores
The Unión General de Trabajadores is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .-History:...
) and helped found the Clerical Workers Union at the start of the Second Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
in 1931.
On the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in mid-1936 he organized a volunteer militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
unit La Pluma (The Pen) of office workers fighting under the UGT. Later, thanks to his knowledge of English and French, he worked as a censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
at the Foreign Ministry's Press Office where he came to know Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
and many other foreign journalists covering the conflict. During the siege of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
he joined the Radio Service broadcasting to Latin America, where he became known as An Unknown Voice of Madrid, every night telling stories about daily life in the besieged city. He also met the Austrian journalist Ilse Kulcsar. They were married in 1938.
As defeat for the Spanish Government loomed, this, allied to difficulties with the Communist party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
(he was not a member and therefore suspect), and a breakdown in his health, meant that he and his wife had to leave Spain. They went to exile to France in the middle of 1938, and then to England in 1939. From then until his death, Barea worked for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's World Service
BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is the world's largest international broadcaster, broadcasting in 27 languages to many parts of the world via analogue and digital shortwave, internet streaming and podcasting, satellite, FM and MW relays...
Spanish section, while contributing articles and reviews to various literary publications, as well as writing books.
He is buried, with his wife, in Faringdon, Oxfordshire.
The Forging of a Rebel
His best-known work is his autobiography La Forja de un Rebelde (The Forging of a Rebel), published in three volumes:- The Forge (La Forja) tells the story of his childhood and adolescence growing up in Madrid between 1905 and 1914. ( It was reviewed favourably by George OrwellGeorge OrwellEric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
in HorizonHorizon (magazine)Horizon: A Review of Literature and Art was an influential literary magazine published in London, between 1940 and 1949. It was edited by Cyril Connolly who gave a platform to a wide range of distinguished and emerging writers....
, " a fragment of autobiography, and we may hope that others will follow it..if the Fascist powers have done no other good, they have at least enriched the English-speaking world by exiling all their best writers. ") - The Track (La Ruta) recounts his military experiences in Morocco during the "War of the Rif" from 1920 to 1925.
- The Clash (La Llama) narrates his experience of the Civil War and exile between 1935 and 1940 - " The book starts off in a CastilianCastile (historical region)A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
village and ends up in Paris, but its essential subject is the siege of Madrid."
The books were translated into English by Ilsa Barea and first published between 1941 and 1946. The first Spanish language edition was published in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1951. It was not published in Spain until 1978. La Forja de un Rebelde was dramatised on TVE
Televisión Española
Televisión Española is the national state-owned public-service television broadcaster in Spain. TVE's activities were previously financed by a combination of advertising revenue and subsidies from the national government, but since it's been supported by subsidies only.TVE belongs to the RTVE...
in 1990, directed and with screenplay by Mario Camus.
Short stories
- Valor y Miedo (Courage and Fear), Spain, 1938.
- El centro de la Pista, 1960.
Biographies
- Lorca, the Poet and his People, 1944, about Federico García LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
- Unamuno, 1952, about Miguel de UnamunoMiguel de UnamunoMiguel de Unamuno y Jugo was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright and philosopher.-Biography:...
Novels
- La Raiz Rota (The Broken Root), 1955. Published in Spanish in 2009 by Editorial Salto de Página, Madrid.